Thursday, December 27, 2012

Pearl's First Birthday

I can't believe it's been a year since our little Pearl Noelle was born!  How quickly a year goes by.  What a special year it has been. Pearl has added so much fun, laughter, and love to our lives.

A little about Pearl:

-We call her "Flea" because she is so little and compact. I don't think she's even 17 lbs yet. But don't be fooled by her smallness, she is really strong and super quick!  Always grabbing things before we even notice, and lifting things you'd never think a baby could lift!  She can grab ornaments off the Christmas tree in the blink of an eye!  And she can hold two popper balls in each hand. Cracks us up. :)

-And, yeah, she looks a bit like her daddy (understatement!).  I think her personality is going to be similar to his as well.  She likes to make silly sounds and just be goofy. Her favorite sound to make is a panting sound, when I ask her what a puppy-dog says.

-She can say the words mama, dada, Elmo, Lyla, all done, and uh-oh.  She likes to drop things off her tray and say "uh-oh!" She can also sign water, more, milk, and all-done. 

-She loves to point at things, as you can see in the following photos.

-Joel calls Pearl my "sidekick" because she loves to just tool around on my hip. :) I love it, and it helps that she's so little and strong--she can sure hang on!

-She is crawling like a champ (not walking yet!) and likes to follow Mama around the house. like a faithful little puppy.  She also likes to play crawl-chase with Lyla once in awhile.  It's soooo cute.

-Pearl and Lyla like to play side-by-side and sometimes have toy wars.  They definitely enjoy each other's company. :)

-Pearlie is very independent with her eating and likes to feed herself a whole variety of things--cooked veggies, blueberries, deli meat (she loves ham the most!), crackers, strawberries, pasta, cheese.  She eats a good variety and is starting to drink whole milk too. 

-She also loves bath-time with her big sis.

-Pearlie has 8 teeth already!  Her top front 2 teeth have a huge gap between them and it cracks us up! She has a Strahan smile. ;)

-She is just so curious and gets into everything.  Sometimes we call her our little raccoon because she likes to dig around and make little messes wherever she goes.  She loves to open drawers and pull things out, especially daddy's socks, and she likes to get into trash cans and pull everything out. Ha!

-She has such a sweet and easy-going personality, such an easy baby.  We enjoy her so much and can't imagine life without our precious Pearl.  

Enjoy the birthday pics...

 She was so excited to get at those presents!









 Auntie, Uncle and cuzzie (and Grandpa too)


Pearlie and Ethan are buds :)

Cake that Auntie Bryana made









HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY GIRL!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa's house...
(They're not the clearest pics because I forgot my camera and had to use my phone, but it works!)

Pearl's First Christmas!  Tough to get this one to smile for the camera :) 

Pearlie checking our her cuzzie's new toy

The girls liked the play food before it was even opened!

Uncle & niece

Ethan and his new train

Lyla loved her book with babies in it!

Auntie's cookies ~ almost too pretty to eat


Pearl's first Christmas cookie :)

Brothers

Somebody was getting tired

The best shot I could get of the girls under the tree

Lyla liked the feel of the branches on her head :)


Lyla kept massaging Ethan's back with her foot and he didn't mind a bit!  Too funny!


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Lyla and her baby

Lyla loves babies these days and says "baby" all the time!


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Oh, how I love Christmas!

Willow Tree nativity



twinkle lights all over

Christmas tree

snow-covered grill :)

Christmas princess

One of two Christmas dresses :)

Christmas hug from Ethan. Love.

Snow bunnies

Eating snow for the first time!


Christmas treats


Even Christmas "helpers" in their Christmas jammies :)